Traditional Italian Piacenza Pasta with Beans Story of the Dish Pisarei e Fasò is one of Piacenza’s defining dishes and an outstanding example of cucina povera. Pisarei are tiny handmade dumplings based on flour and breadcrumbs, shaped with the thumb to create an indentation that captures sauce. Fasò means beans in local dialect. Borlotti beans, tomato and pancetta form a rustic sauce that becomes creamy naturally as some beans break down. Recipe Information Difficulty: Inter

Traditional Italian Tuscan Cannellini Beans with Tomato and Sage Story of the Dish Fagioli all’Uccelletto are one of the great examples of Tuscan cooking: a dish made from a handful of inexpensive ingredients that becomes deeply flavorful through technique, patience, and excellent raw materials. The preparation is particularly associated with Florence and central Tuscany and is built around cannellini beans slowly cooked with extra-virgin olive oil, garlic, sage, and tomato.

Traditional Italian Abruzzese Spring Vegetable, Legume and Pasta Soup Story of the Dish Virtù Teramane are one of the most historically significant dishes of Abruzzo and one of the great seasonal recipes of central Italy. Traditionally prepared around May 1 in the province of Teramo, the dish marks the passage from winter into spring. It was born from the practical need to use the last dried legumes, grains, preserved meats, and pantry ingredients from the cold months while i